Samsung DVD-H1080 DVD Player review

Summary

Our Score:

9

DVD players have been around for over a decade now, and inevitably manufacturers are struggling to sex up a technology that's slowly being usurped by Blu-ray and digital downloads. There aren't many technological avenues left to explore, but one way to keep people interested is to dream up unusual and alluring designs, and that's something Samsung excels at. The DVD-H1080 perfectly demonstrates the Korean company's ability to make a bog-standard product look beautiful, and as a result this affordably-priced deck really stands out from the crowd.

Veering away from the rectangular box approach of most DVD players, the DVD-H1080 sports a distinctive 'pebble' design - the type you'd use for skimming across a pond judging by the round shape and slim dimensions. And as is customary for Samsung products these days, it's styled in a deep gloss black finish that'll take a lot of maintenance to keep fingerprint-free - but the swanky looks are worth the effort.

We're a sucker for touch-sensitive buttons so it's great to see three of them at the front of the unit covering play/pause, eject and power. The disc tray below is so slim you barely notice it, while on the back the connection line-up is understandably limited given the unit's compact size.

On offer is an HDMI output, which will deliver 720p, 1080i and 1080p pictures to a suitably equipped HDTV, as well as component and composite video outs for lower-tech TVs. Audio outputs are of the coaxial digital and analogue stereo varieties but those who need optical are out of luck. There's no SCART output either, so check your connection needs carefully before buying.

Samsung has also tucked a USB 2.0 port around the back, which means you won't spoil the aesthetic with a flash drive plugged in. This makes it possible to play MP3, WMA, JPEG, DivX and XviD files without the need to burn them onto CD or DVD first - but it will also play them back from disc if need be. And disc support is solid too, with a compatibility list that includes DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD and CD-R/-RW.

The other benefit of that USB port is that you can rip tracks from CD straight onto a portable music player in MP3 format (128 or 192kbps), saving you the need to get your PC involved. But here's the rub - there's no Gracenote so you'll need to tag tracks on your PC later.

lifethroughalens

July 17, 2009, 5:40 am

Looks really tasty but I can't help but think it would be perfect if it had a little get together with a Western Digital WD TV HD set, and had little off-spring. Chuck a Blue-Ray drive in there and add an Ethernet port and Wireless draft N and maybe a 1TB HD just for good measure - all in that same sleek body. We have a Winner!

(might buy one anyway:))

Xiphias

July 17, 2009, 5:34 pm

I'm not sure making a DVD player resemble an electric hob is the greatest design decision in history.

BobaFett

July 17, 2009, 7:23 pm

Would be nice to have a picture showing the tray opened so that one could gauge how big the player is without resorting to looking up the dimensions. Or perhaps an image showing the player and remote along side a DVD disc? The video reviews are always very helpful in getting an idea of the size of something because you get to see the item in someone's hands.

Smit

July 17, 2009, 8:28 pm

@Andy H

I am guessing it is a slot loading drive. Although with an image of course would be better so we could see just how wide it was

Chocoa

July 17, 2009, 10:24 pm

Looks tray loading to me... You can just about make out the tray outline.

BobaFett

July 18, 2009, 12:12 am

The article does actually mention a tray on page 1: "The disc tray below is so slim you barely notice it".

Premfab

July 18, 2009, 2:34 pm

Well done Samsung for making the effort.

But, why does the remote look so rubbish? This is part of the user experience - in fact you'd probably see the remote more than the player!!

Danny P

July 18, 2009, 3:46 pm

Yes it is a tray loader and the dimensions are 265(w) x 248(d) x 52.5(h)mm to save anyone else looking it up

cadinet

January 28, 2010, 3:57 am

I bought one of these today. Really like it. It does have a tray. I used it with a Scart adapter from Maplin L83BA at £9, the L50AJ and L88BA at £16 should also work, I was a bit surprised at the lack of a scart socket

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